Up Close & Personal with The Chew's Carla Hall

They say life is a journey of discovery. Some of us find ourselves early in life and we spend our time focused on goals we set at an early age. For others, the journey takes us down diverse paths as we search for who we are, trying to find the passion or direction that finally fulfills. For The Chew's Carla Hall, her inspiration and passion came later in life, transforming and shaping her into the lovely lady who graces our television sets each day. She is full of joy, laughter and an infectious enthusiasm for life and things culinary.

Carla grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. Her influence early on with regard to food came from her two grandmothers, Thelma and Freddie Mae. Carla explained, "Back in the day, we did not eat out very much, we ate at home. I remember every time we went to my grandmother's house for Sunday supper. We went there after church every Sunday and to this day those are still my favorite foods. She made a lot of food. But, I was not interested in cooking. I was into the eating," she laughed. "Being from the south, every holiday or life event is all around food. Weddings, births, deaths, what we did is eat." As an Italian, I fully understand that philosophy. For southerners, as well as for folks of my heritage, the heart of the house is the kitchen. I asked Carla what her favorite food her grandma made and without hesitation she answered, "My Grandmother Thelma made this amazing fried chicken. Her recipe was so simple, just a bit of salt and pepper, but it was so tender and juicy.

Nowadays we'd probably call it organic. But back then, everything we ate was more simple and good."

"Thelma was the one who cooked lots of food," she continued, "and we would eat with her during the week. Grandma Freddie Mae's house is where we went on Sundays. That was more of an 'event' with more of the 'holiday foods'. She would make this corn bread, but she would never put it into the oven until we were on the inside of the door to her house. Now, we came to her house every Sunday right about the same time, but she would never make that cornbread until we were all inside that door. She would never start it before, no matter what. For me, as a kid, it was torture actually because we knew that we wouldn't eat for another 20 minutes and it seemed like longest 20 minutes of my life. I used to wish that my parents could call her and say we were on the way, so it would be ready when we got there. It wasn't like it was a surprise party or anything," she laughed, "she knew we were coming, but it was about her always wanting things to be perfect, with the bread coming fresh out of the oven while we were there."

In high school, when picking a career direction and major in college Carla chose accounting. She explained that she really liked her accounting teacher, which influenced her decision on a major. But, her true passion was for the theater and the performing arts. She loved performing. "I did theater and performed from 12 to 17. I loved it. I was on track to go to a conservatory and major in theater. I wanted to go to Boston University and it was the only school that I applied for. Unfortunately, they were going to defer my admission. I was shocked!" she exclaimed. Hall then followed her sister with a late admission to Howard University, where she received a degree in accounting. Interestingly enough she has been quoted as saying, "I knew as soon as I passed my CPA exam, I wasn't going to be an accountant." She decided to go to Europe and model and it was there, traveling through Europe, that awakened her passion for food and inspired a new career path. I asked her to expand on the experience. 

"My whole thing with the accounting was that I did not want to wake up one day and find I hated my job." She explained, "I really did not know what I wanted to do. People asked 'were you afraid?' I was actually, but I was not afraid of going to Paris. I always knew I could come home. I was afraid of waking up at 40 and hating my job. I was on a quest, on a journey to figure out what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. When I was at Howard I had done some modeling and I had some girlfriends with whom I had modeled when in college. Looking back," she continued, "my intention was to figure out what I wanted to do and modeling was that bridge between what I didn't what to do, and what I would eventually do.

It was during this time in Europe that the seed and love of culinary was awakened in Carla. I asked her to explain. "First of all," she offered, "I was in a foreign country and there were a lot of American models. On Sundays, we all got together and we would do this big brunch. It was all about the food and making food that made us all feel at home (America). We would make things like Buffalo Wings, or Macaroni and Cheese. I remember running to the market to get turnip greens before they would throw them away, because they would cut them off and sell the turnips, but would throw away the greens. It was all about  a reminder of home. The girls would all compare 'my mom made it like this,' etc. and I had no idea how anything was made because as a kid, as I mentioned, I was just waiting to eat the food, not paying attention to how it was made. I became fascinated. I started buying cookbooks. I gave myself the time to figure it out. Not having to worry about a job allowed me to really figure it out at my own pace. I was having an experience and I realized it at the time. Yes, I was running around, looking for modeling jobs but, I knew this was not going to be my career. I allowed myself the time to really learn about cooking. I got to travel and make food, taste and explore the food of Europe. When I came back to the States, I lived with friends, not having my own place, so I started making food and cleaning. My way of paying them back was to cook for them."

Carla then moved to Washington, D.C. to be with her sister and it was there that she and a friend opened a lunch delivery service as a fluke and, as she put it, "I became 'The Lunch Lady' for 5 years. I made sandwiches. Lots of sandwiches," she remembered chuckling, "I made cakes and biscuits. I had this whole little concept. Mostly turkey, no beef or pork. Healthy salads and such and on Fridays I would make something special. We called it 'The Lunch Bunch.' It was originally The Lunch Basket, because that's how I originally delivered the food. I started with a few clients which then turned into more clients and at its height I probably had about 25 regulars. I bought a used mail truck for about $200. It had one seat and a cooler in the back. It was hard work." 

Fueled with a new passion for culinary, Hall then attended L’Academie de Cuisine in Maryland where she completed her culinary training, going on to work as a sous chef at the Henley Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.. She also served as Executive Chef at both The State Plaza Hotel and The Washington Club, and has taught classes at CulinAerie, Sur la Table and her alma mater, L’Academie de Cuisine. I asked what she took away from those years working the line and she explained, "I liked the action. I also liked that at the end of the night you felt like you had accomplished something. You made it through. Being a morning person, I never experienced the culture of hanging out after the shift though. I was older. And," she laughed, "I was tired. I went home and went to sleep."

This is where Hall explained to me that she knew she had finally found herself, her direction and her career path. "I knew because it was hard work, yet I still wanted to do it. I still was enthusiastic. That was truly when I knew this was it. I did not spend many years on the line," she offered. "I went from the restaurants to catering quite quickly. Now that I am planning on opening my own restaurant though, it's a different mindset. It will be my name, my concept, so I really want to make sure that I know every aspect of the business; front of the house and back. I won't necessarily be the chef, but, they will be my recipes, my name on the door and I want to be able to jump on that line anytime they need me to. In any capacity. If my name is on it, there is no way I am not going to be involved in every aspect."

The conversation finally came around to her 'big break,' television and Top Chef. I asked her how it all came about and she explained, "When I did Top Chef, I really wasn't thinking about a career on television. For me, it was a personal challenge that happened to be on television. I didn't do it to get my name out there. None of that was on my mind. It was game, a personal challenge." I asked her if she thought that she was at a disadvantage as a contestant, coming from a catering background while most of her competitors were coming with years of experience on the line in a restaurant. She immediately replied, "A lot of the chefs, when you look at the challenges, the advantage that they had as a restaurant chef was that they had a lot of dishes on their menus that they do over and over again, day after day. They have the muscle memory of doing those same things over and over again. The advantage to a catering background when you have a challenge is, you have to move the food all over the place. You never know where you'll be cooking. You constantly have to be prepared for change, cooking in a different location. Catering gives you that ability. I think that it basically evened the playing field." She continued, "For me, catering is about service, thinking on your feet, on the fly, talking to the client. Many of my competitors were surprised that I was still there, that I stuck around. Top Chef is not only about the food, but how you handle the pressure as a person. How you dig deep and keep going."

We then moved to The Chew, which, as I write this, is one of the top shows on tv. With fellow hosts Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Daphne Oz and Clinton Kelly, the show has taken America by storm. I asked Carla to bring us through how she came to be one of the hosts and she explained, "Folks think that I just got The Chew because of Top Chef. The reality is that right off Top Chef All Stars I was one of 170-200 other people who auditioned. They were looking for 5 people. They put us all together for twenty minutes and we had great chemistry instantly. It's so popular now that people actually get upset sometimes when we take long breaks in between shooting the show, but we really need the time to rejuvenate. To do a daily show, the energy and intense focus we have to bring to keep it fresh, funny and interesting is daunting. It takes a lot out of you, so we do it in what we call semesters, so that on breaks we get to recharge the batteries."

With such a intensive shoot schedule, coupled with personal appearances, a new book tour and working on a new restaurant concept, I asked if her schedule takes a toll on her family. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Matthew Lyons, and stepson Noah. "It's hard, we live in D.C. and my husband is there, he works for the FDA. I am here in NYC. We try to see each other as much as possible, mostly on the weekends. We take turns. He comes up here (to NYC) every other weekend. I go to D.C. unless I have appearances."

I then broached a subject that is a bit controversial and I gave Carla the option of discussing it or not. Recently, she had launched a Kick Starter campaign to help raise money for kitchen equipment for her upcoming restaurant opening and throughout the industry and public it was met with mixed reactions. Some approved while others thought it was not appropriate. As this is Up Close and Personal, I wanted to give Carla the chance to respond in a neutral atmosphere. She graciously
offered, "I definitely would not do it again. I was shocked at people's reactions. I was shocked that people assume that because you are on television it automatically means you are rich. I was shocked that folks also believe everything that they read. There are these websites, solely for entertainment purposes, that supposedly tell you what your favorite tv or film stars are worth and they had a ridiculous number claiming I was worth millions. For instance one of those site lists me as white," she laughed, "I mean to look at me, do I look white?" She continued, "It was a surprise to me, that with my new found celebrity, the public believes that they really know you. And frankly, they don't. I had to get used to that."

It was here that Carla and I discussed why I do these interviews. You see, there is a persona that tv presents to you all that sometimes gets confused with reality. Now that's not to say that the personality or person you admire on tv is being disingenuous. I just mean that  tv doesn't always allow, depending on the format, the opportunity for all of our favorite tv stars true personality and all the info about them to be presented. Here with these interviews, my hope is that you get to know a bit more about the true person, behind the persona. She explained that though she has discussed it here, at the time she chose to remain silent about it and not respond publicly to her detractors. To me that was a sign of class. "It was hard not to respond, but I felt it was the right way to handle it. Another lesson I learned was there were many people who were actually supportive and understood why I did the campaign and I said to myself, 'Why should I let the 1% who had something negative to say, overshadow the 99% who were positive about it.' I really believe that when you do something you have to analyze the lesson that may be presented, take the reactions from the source and either dismiss it or pay attention to it. The choice is ours. But that is easier said than done." She continued, "It did hurt to hear and read the negative comments. I think that sometimes people forget that you are not just this persona on tv but you are a real person with real feelings. I think that what Social Media has done is given a voice to a lot of anonymous people without a face. I doubt some folks would say what they said online to my face. I had to remind myself that an opinion offered without facts is just someone name calling." I have to agree with Carla here. As one who's public life, from gourmetgirlmagazine.com and now this blog and twitter, has revolved around social media. We have to realize that there are folks online, trolls they are now called, who are out on social media just looking for opportunities to hate or make fun. It's become part of the game, as it were.

I then moved the topic to something a bit more sweet, Carla's commercial endeavors. In addition to her cookbooks, Carla's Comfort Foods and Cooking With Love, Comfort Food That Hugs You, she has a line of baked goods available on her website and stores in 8 states. Bite-size cookies that look like a snack, but pair boldly and beautifully with beer, wine and tea. Here you’ll find familiar flavors with a surprising twist, such as the Pecan Shortbread with Vanilla Salt and Goat Cheese with Dried Cranberries with a hint of rosemary. Carla's artisan cookies are made in small batches, packaged by hand and contain only the finest ingredients—European-style butter, unbleached sugar & flour, couverture chocolate, artisan cheeses, fresh nuts, premium spices. I asked about her expansion into the restaurant business. She explained, "We are currently looking for space and hopefully late spring early summer we'll be launching Carla's Southern Kitchen."

To sum up I asked Carla about the whole experience, from Top Chef to The Chew, what's on the horizon and what has been her biggest lesson and had the biggest impact on her. She thought for a moment and answered, "Remembering who I am. My prayer everyday is about my keeping my authenticity. Regardless of people knowing me or not knowing me, it's about who I am and making sure I don't change. Fortunately I came into this notoriety later in life, at age 42. I think it's really hard to grow up in the public eye. If I have one advantage it's that, I hope, I grew up well before the tv fame came, I know who I am and I try to make sure that the person I am is who I present to the general public. I am who I am and I feel that's a blessing.  Being older, I also take it all with a grain of salt. This (fame) can go as quickly as it came. What's also important to me is to maintain something of my own. I think that's why I maintain the cookies because if The Chew went away today, I have the cookie business to fall back on. If I did not, I have to say I'd be really nervous."

We who know Carla also know how much she loves to dance. It is almost as signature to her as her Hootie Hoo! I asked if she could choose what the soundtrack to her life would be, her answer summed up everything I have come to respect and expect from this vivacious lady. "Anything with a beat, especially R & B, something that keeps my feet moving, especially forward."

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this in-depth chat with Carla as much as I did in bringing it to you. I look for more fun, frolic and great culinary things from this lady and I know we'll all be watching and enjoying as she brings us along on her adventures.

To find out more about Carla, her products, cookbooks and where she might be appearing live near you, visit her website at www.carlahall.com and connect with her via social media here; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Till next time,

Lou 

It's Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry 2015! Join the ride to end Childhood Hunger! #ChefsCycle

This post is a special shout out to all my chef friends, restaurateurs and hospitality people out there. As a proud member of the food community, one of the things I'm most proud of is that the hospitality industry is the number one industry when it comes to philanthropic outreach. It has something to do with the fact that the definition of hospitality is; the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. In other words, service. To that end, I'd like to talk to you all about a great initiative that I am involved in with No Kid Hungry/Share Our Strength, my good friend Chef Jason Roberts, along with a number of chefs and hospitality professionals that have stepped up with us. It's called Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry. 

The first pilot ride was held in May of 2014 with between 11-20 riders who rode their bicycles 300 miles from NYC to Washington, D.C. over a three day period. It was a huge success, raising a little under 25k. This year I'm counting on you all to help No Kid Hungry get the word out about this great cause, or, step up to ride, help recruit or become a sponsor.

For 2015, NKH has expanded your opportunity to join us as a rider, sponsor or donor. There will be two rides on each coast. The West Coast ride will begin in Santa Barbara ending up in San Diego. The East Coast ride will retrace it's 2014 miles, beginning in NYC through Philadelphia and Baltimore and ending in Washington, D.C.

 For many of you that have read my musings over the last 8 years, you all know of my efforts and support of food related charities and organizations. More than 16 million kids in America struggle with hunger. For those not aware, this year over 45 million people in America will be food deficient at some point and over 16 million of those who are going hungry are children. With their Cooking Matters, School Breakfast, Dine Out, Taste of the Nation, Bake Sale, No Kid Hungry This Summer programs and proper nutrition initiatives, No Kid Hungry is committed to making sure that our children get the food they need to grow, be healthy and lead productive lives.

NKH's goal is to have 50 chefs, 25 on each coast raise vital funds and awareness by committing to raise $10,000.00 each by riding all or a portion of either ride.  They are seeking chefs, servers, teams, sous chefs, bartenders, owners or office teams from food and culinary companies who would like to join the ride to make sure kids have access to food where they live, learn and play. For those who may not be able to ride but would like to sponsor a team, rider or, just donate as these riders put their pedals where their hearts are, we are asking you to pledge $1 for every mile they ride. Every $1 you donate can help connect a child with up to 10 meals! Help us make No Kid Hungry a reality. Donate here.

Most of you who read me and follow on twitter are foodies, chefs, hospitality professionals, pr firms and culinary media. This is OUR event! I am asking you to step up and help it be a success. I am not, as many of you know, one to ask for favors or financial help, but this cause is too important and the needs of these children who go hungry or are food deficient are too great to not speak up.

To my corporate friends, they need you to step up and commit needed dollars, supplies, expertise, to support the ride and show the way. They need help with food, lodging, media coverage, social media exposure, as well as gear, energy snacks, bike kits, medical and safety kits. I'm asking you to step up for the kids and get involved.

Every dollar counts! If you are who I call, one of my chefs, a restaurant or hospitality/culinary company that has been involved with me over the years, I'm specifically asking for your love and support. If you would like to find out more about riding, please contact Deb Shore at dshore@strength.org. All others can help by donating, re-tweeting, re-posting, sharing and any other way you can help us get the word out and get involved.

I am counting on all of you to step up with those chefs that have already committed and the rest of #TeamNKH and help us in the fight to eradicate childhood hunger in our lifetime. Together, we can make sure that we leave NO KID HUNGRY!

Visit the website to find out how you can help: www.chefscycle.org

Thanks for your support and please share this with as many as possible!

Lou

Up Close & Personal with The Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro

There are those of us who were born to entertain, imbued with a certain sense of timing, personality, drive and love of people that compels us to be the center of attention. It's a burning desire to make people laugh, or to somehow make an impact on an emotional level. Whether our preferred method of delivery is word or deed, song, painting, or plate of food, the desire to seek a public audience is something we are born with. As an entertainer most of my adult life, I understand. Some of us just have an innate need to bring joy, laughter, tears, or in some cases any type of emotional reaction from those around us, or in the audience. Something about type A personalities. Certainly my friend Jeff Mauro has it. Most of us with this affliction know early on what we want in a career. For me it was writing, music at first, and now well, here you are. For my friend Jeff Mauro, this was true at an early age as well.

I met Jeff back in 2012. We spent a few days together at the Fabulous Food Show in Ohio. We talked about careers, hopes and what the future might hold. He'd won the Next Food Network Star, and now into the 2 season of his show The Sandwich King, had gained attention, his momentum presenting a career upswing that would possibly propel him to household name status and bring him to a next level of public awareness. He was aware of the opportunity and it was very clear in our casual after-hours conversations that he was determined to work hard and take advantage of it. 

Flash ahead to December, 2014. Jeff Mauro is now the star of Food Network's Emmy-nominated Sandwich King, $24 in 24 hrs, and the immensely popular, The Kitchen, with co stars, Geoffrey Zakarian, Katie Lee, Marcela Valladolid and Sunny Anderson. He has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Steve Harvey Show, Chopped, Cupcake Wars and The Rachael Ray Show. When not making TV, Jeff  spends a great deal of time with his wife and first love Sarah, and roughousin’ with his five-year-old son and co-star, Lorenzo. I also hear that he plays above average blues guitar. If you know me at all, you know THAT was music to my ears. 

The thing about Jeff that I admire the most though has nothing to do with fame. It's the fact that no matter how overwhelming his schedule of TV shoots, live show appearances, as well as the frequent appearances on TV, his family stands hands above all the rest of his priorities. We'd talked for some time about him sitting down for an Up Close & Personal and the chance finally presented itself during the 2014 holiday season. His schedule is, to put it bluntly, insane. "Dude, it's crazy," he laughed. "I just got back from the Palm Beach Food & Wine, then flew out to NYC to film The Kitchen, it's nice now over the holidays I can slow down a bit. I'm going on vacation with the family, my wife and son, right after Christmas. But yeah, I basically live to get on a plane." 

Family, to most Italians, including Jeff, is most important. Born in 1978 in Chicago, IL, he was a ham on a roll from the very beginning. As one of 4 kids, he was the family comedian, making the whole family laugh.

Jeff’s flair for the stage was discovered early on in Roosevelt Jr. High 3rd grade's legendary production of "Let George Do It!" From that point on, he immersed himself in the performing arts and flourished. "I was always decent in sports, I kinda liked it, but between you and me, I hated moving. I didn't gravitate toward physical activity. If you see pictures of me I was a chubby kid."

He explained, "It started in the 3rd grade with that play. I went for the part, we all had to audition. I played King George IV. I was like, 'I can do a British accent!' I don''t know where I got it, TV, nursery rhymes, who knows...but I nailed it. Got the part." He continued, "My mom and dad had no idea I had the ability to perform, after all it was third grade. I went out there in the first scene, and breaking into an English accent, quoted lines, ('What ho, what is this nonsense..etc,)' in a Shakespearean manner. My parents from that point on encouraged me into that world. I took Youth Second City classes, was in all the schools plays. I was the funny kid at home and in class. I just wanted to make people laugh from a very young age."

Jeff graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. I mentioned that I had an uncle who had attended Bradley and he replied, "Two of my three siblings, my wife and my sister-in-law all went to Bradley. Out here, everybody goes to Bradley. We don't stray far." Since he was talking about staying in the area close to his roots, I asked him about his keeping things local to his hometown, Elmwood Park and Chicago. He explained, "The only time I lived away from this area, this literal square mile, my whole life, was when my wife and I moved to LA. I was hustling back then, trying to get a cooking show. I went to culinary school out there, but this neighborhood, it always pulls me back. I'm six miles from downtown Chicago, the third largest city in the country. There really is no reason to leave. I notice that folks who've made it in this market (career wise) leave and go to New York or LA. I wanted to stay close and raise my kids here. Have them go to the same schools I went to."

Right after college, armed with a degree in communications, Jeff naturally opened up a deli called Prime Time with his cousin, a fellow chef. Because that's what you do with a degree in communications, you open a sandwich shop. It was there that he honed his people skills and fell in love with cooking and crafting sandwiches. I asked him about graduating top of his class from culinary school. He answered proudly, "Yup, top of my class; never was late, never missed a day." Jeff graduated Valedictorian, packed up his Honda and returned to Chicago. "I felt I needed to legitimize myself, especially if I wanted to be on camera as a professional cook. Practically, if this whole entertainment thing didn't work out, cheffing would be a

fallback." He expanded, "I was 25 or so, it was my second round of school, so I knuckled down....I didn't want to blow it. I showed up early, I cooked harder. I cleaned harder. I was yelling at all the 18-year old students, 'Let's hustle.'"

I asked him what from culinary school had the biggest impact on him as a chef. He answered immediately, "The fundamentals. You can learn from another chef at a restaurant, but I got a good, broad foundation, doing a spectrum of different foods correctly." Instead of going right back to pursuing his TV career, Jeff put in his chef time, as a culinary instructor and successful private chef, while still finding time to be a local comedic performer. "I answered an ad for a corporate chef, for their cafeteria. I went there and the place was a disaster." He remembered, "They had this cafe, the guy doing it all wrong. I transformed it into this destination for people in the offices. I was prepping and cleaning and cooking and interacting all day with all kinds of people. It was great training, steady work and I did my comedy at night."

After 3 unsuccessful audition attempts, he finally landed himself on Season 7 of Next Food Network Star, which he totally won. He offered, "The third time trying out I sent a video. It started because my wife had a premonition. She simply said, 'Send the video, it's going to change our lives,' and she was right." I then touched on his inclusion of his family into his TV show, speaking about the support of his family and especially his wife Sarah. He replied, "My wife was a nurse, I was a cook. We'd known each other since I was a freshman in college. We've been together since we were 21 years old, and she knew I had these dreams. She supported me. She came to LA with me. She was one of 3 people at a comedy show. I want to honor that commitment. I think a lot of people shy away from that, putting their kid, or family in front of the camera, I get that. We're all growing in this together. My son has done 30 episodes of television," he stated firmly. "My wife, my parents, aunts, uncles, they've all been on the show. I want to share this with them. I was approached to do a reality show, cus my family is a bunch of nutzos," he laughed, "but that's where I draw the line."

We talked about his success and accolades for his show Sandwich King and The Kitchen, but I wanted to step back a bit and asked why he stuck to his guns arguing 'sandwiches will sell,' when he won The Next Food Network Star. "It was authentic to me," he explained," I didn't want to change who I was. I think I embody what the sandwich represents, it's an extension of my personality; ya know, kinda fun, loose and creative. I'm not the guy whose going to do farm-to-table, or funky crazy food. Sandwiches was one of the only things not being done on TV that I thought could sustain a series."

Five years later, and a few Emmy nominations would prove Jeff was right. "Luckily I was never persuaded to veer off. I think I gave them a lot, I spoke my mind in those interviews, I hammed it up during the cooking portions." He remembered, "My goal was to show that I could make good television. To show I was producible. That is at least half of the equation, half the job requirements." Jeff brings something to the table that is part of the chemistry of good entertainers. Not only are they producible and able to follow direction, but some like Jeff, have an ability to self produce. They have a certain instinct for where the camera is, the timing, and an overall awareness of the bigger picture that the audience sees.

That brought his new show The Kitchen to the conversation "I love the puzzle of it (television). That's why I like The Kitchen so much, I sit back. I know who's talking when, when to jump in. We're getting into a rhythm now. Geoffery and I are very good friends. He and his wife were one of the first to welcome us with open arms, our wives are good friends." He laughed, "Even though we couldn't be more opposite, he laughs at my crap. We play off each other. When he and Sunny came along to the cast, all of us already had a history, so we were all glad to be working together."

I asked him about his little sidekick, Lorenzo. Does he know who dad is? How does he handle the notoriety, people coming up to Dad all the time, the cameras etc.? He replied candidly, "Oh yeah, he gets it. He's unaffected by it to a certain degree. We never talk about it. If someone brings it up we're honest and open about it. It's all about how we conduct ourselves," he continued. "We teach him you don't act all cooler than everyone else just because you're on TV. I raise him to believe that you work for your stuff. You bring your dish to the sink and clean it for yourself. We live in a normal house, I mean, we live in the same neighborhood I grew up in! We're ten feet from the sidewalk. We sit on the stoop. We are the same. We're normal. He goes to the same catholic school I went to. C'mon , I mean that's amazing! He goes to the same kindergarten classroom I did," he proclaims proudly."It's funny though. When we were out one time and he wanted quicker service, he said, 'you know my dad is The Sandwich King,' and we'll were' like...'Lorenzo!' He laughed, "Needless to say he's a typical Chicagoan. He'll grease a couple of palms, or drop a few names when he has to."

We talked blues guitar, my band days and his collection of guitars and there was some talk of my coming out to play a little blues. Seems Jeff, who's played since freshman year in college, gets together with some of the crew between shoots of his show and they jam. Here is just another example of a constantly creative mind, ever at work trying to find avenues of release. "Instead of sitting there in-between shoots, staring at my phone like a dolt, we play music. It's changed my motivation. The music settles me." With regard to what's coming up in the near future, he mentioned a possible book and some irons in the fire that he is considering, but was very close to the vest. To me, he seems content with the balance and direction of his life right now, and it's clearly evident he's in a good place, content to ride the wave and see where it leads. In wrapping up, on behalf of you my readers, I posed Jeff some questions on a series of topics I thought you might find interesting.

On his most embarrassing moment: 
"It was season two of Sandwich King," he remembers. "We had a brand new set, new production team. It was the first scene, of the first movement, of the first episode...it was the first everything. To raise the stakes a bit higher for me, the head of the network stops in to supervise, Bob Tishman. All new crew, all new director, everything new. I'm prepping for the first scene, chopping parsley and I cut off a good chunk of my thumb. Brand new knife, so sharp you could use it as a razor. Shut down production for three hours. Bob said, 'Don't worry, the  same thing happened to Rachael Ray so maybe it's good luck.'

Jeff's go to kitchen gadget at home:
"I would have to say my flat bottom griddle pan," he offered, "No ridges. You can do like 4 pancakes, 4 eggs, grilled cheese."

Favorite food his mom made growing up: 
"Without question, we would get this on special occasions, like birthdays, Christmas, etc.. Her Braciole. So good. So rich. So delicious."

I finished up and asked him what it's like coming full circle. Judging when he sits in on Chopped vs back when he started, being judged, his immediately response was "It's much better to judge than to be judged, let's get that straight right out of the box. But I love doing this. I sit there and think 'this is

the greatest thing in the world, what I do.' Between shooting episodes on the set, as I sit there it hits me and I can't believe that I'm doing this. It's surreal." With regard to his even more hectic TV and appearance schedule, he added, "I get in and I get out. Once the work is done, my priority is to get back here to my family. Home. As long as I can do that, I'm ok with it."
It's apparent that hard work and dedication pays off. Especially when you've got your priorities right.

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into the man behind the sandwich. You can get more information about Jeff on his website: www.jeffmauro.com Follow him on Social Media: twitter, facebook, instagram.

Til next time, 
Lou
All Photos courtesy of Jeff Mauro

Simple NY Style Bagels. Oy, what a recipe!

I don't know about you but, I love a good bagel. When I lived in Florida, trying to get a good NY style bagel was an adventure to say the least. So, for all you transplanted NY'ers as well as those who love a good bagel and a schmear, the following bagel recipe, along a link to my recipe for home-made lox found here, should keep you going. Both recipes are easy to do and well worth the effort!

The bagel was invented  in Kraków, Poland, as a competitor to the bublik, a lean bread of wheat flour designed for Lent. Leo Rosten wrote in "The Joys of Yiddish" about the first known mention of the word bajgiel in the "Community Regulations" of the city of Kraków in 1610, which stated that the item was given as a gift to women in childbirth. In the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries, the bajgiel became a staple of the Polish national diet and a staple of the Slavic diet generally.

Bagels were brought to the United States by Polish-Jews, and first gained popularity in New York City, an industry that was controlled for decades by Bagel Bakers Local 338, which had contracts with nearly all bagel bakeries in and around the city for its workers, who prepared all the bagels by hand. The bagel came into more general use throughout North America in the last quarter of the 20th century, which was due at least partly to the efforts of bagel baker Harry Lender,then sons Murray and Sam along with Florence Sender, who pioneered automated production and distribution of frozen bagels in the 1960s.

Fresh Homemade Bagel Recipe

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cups warm water (80 degrees)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

3 1/2 cups bread flour

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 quarts boiling water

3 tablespoons white sugar

 Optional Toppings
1/2 cup lightly toasted chopped onions (2 teaspoons each)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds (about 1/2 teaspoon each)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (about 1/2 teaspoon each)
1 tablespoon pretzel salt (about 1/4 teaspoon each)

 Method

Pre-heat oven to  350F (180C)
Mix water, salt, sugar, yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 min. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until it forms a single dough ball. (If using a bread machine, place water, salt, sugar, flour and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting.) Allow bread to rise for 45 minutes (bread machine will beep when rising cycle is done). Place dough on a floured surface and cut into 9 equal pieces and roll each piece into a small ball. Flatten balls. Poke a hole in the middle of each with your thumb. Twirl the dough on your finger or thumb to enlarge the hole. Cover with a clean cloth and allow bagels to rise another 40-50 min or until double in size.

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add 3 tbs of sugar. Boil bagels one minute on each side, then place on wire rack to allow water to drip off.

Brush bagels with either egg wash (1 egg white and 1/4 cup warm water). Top with your favorite topping. Sprinkle an un-greased baking sheet with cornmeal. Place bagels on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake
20 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 9 medium sized bagels. Just like Mr. Lender's, you can freeze and enjoy whenever you're in the mood for a delicious bagel.

Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy!

Bon Appetit,

Lou

Talking Cheese with Maître Fromager, Max McCalman

I first met Max a few years back when he was the Dean of Curriculum and Maître Fromager at Artisanal Premium Cheese Center, in New York City. We recently sat down for a discussion on the state of cheese today in America and his latest adventures in the world of cheese.

To give you some background on Max's cheese cred, I'll start with a bit of his bio. This, folks, is definitely a man who knows his curd and is known as America's foremost master of cheese. Early in his career Max worked for a European owned and operated Little Rock restaurant, Restaurant Jacques et Suzanne as Chef de Rang under the tutelage of Maître d'Hotel, Louis Petit. Max became General Manager of Manhattan's The Water Club in 1990. After taking some time off to be a full time dad to his daughter, he joined Picholine Restaurant as Maître d'Hotel where he launched its cheese service in 1995, becoming Maître Fromager and spearheading the installment of the first temperature and humidity controlled cheese cave in a North American restaurant. Max's new 'office' became the talk of the town.

Max authored his first book on cheese 'The Cheese Plate' in 2002 and became an instrumental part in the planning and designing of the Artisanal Bistro in New York City, which featured a retail counter for selling cheese and five separate cheese caves. His second book, 'Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best', went on to be the only cheese book to ever win a James Beard Award. Max was involved in the Artisanal Center as its Maître Fromager and Dean of Curriculum, while still serving as Maître Fromager for Picholine and Artisanal restaurants.

Max has been awarded the title of Maître Fromager as designated by France's Guilde Internationale des Fromagers Comfrérie de Saint-Uguzon, and in January 2011 was given an award from Les Trophées de l'Espirit Alimentaire (French Food Spirit Awards) for Entrepreneurship for 2010. Max's third book, 'Mastering Cheese: Lessons For Connoisseurship from a Maître Fromager', went on to win Best Cheese Book in the World, at the Gourmand Cookbook Awards in Paris.

Max's most recent publication is his Swatchbook of Wine and Cheese Pairings. He is one of the founders of the American Cheese Society's (ACS) Certified Cheese Professional program launched in 2004, becoming Chairman of its committee in 2012. Max left the Artisanal company in May of 2014 to focus on the creative endeavors within the cheese industry and is currently developing a new cheese app due out sometime in mid 2015. Whew, quite a list of accomplishments. 

I asked Max of his earliest exposure to cheese and he responded, "As a two-year old, I reached out for a piece of cheese while sitting on the counter. " he recalls, "I had a cold and my mom, said something to the effect that I should stay away from the cheese because I might make the cheese sick. Funny, now, that I have learned more about cheese and it's nutritional properties through the years, and contrary to popular belief, it was in fact possible that the cheese may have been exactly what I did need." He continued, "I grew up in Brazil from ages 5 through 12, but we we're warned off dairy products, so I did not get my cheese/dairy fix on until I came back to the states. I firmly believe I'd be at least an inch taller if I had eaten cheese as a kid," he quipped.

I asked him about his introduction into culinary and speaking on this; he explained, "Growing up in Brazil, I became aware that working in a restaurant was treated as a lauded profession; people took a lot of pride in their work. Being Americans in Brazil. We were exposed to  a lot of fine restaurants. I was always enamored with the theater of a restaurant, I saw that service was treated like an art form. After college, I still looked like I was twelve, and I became a waiter. Back then, it really impressed the girls if you were a bartender, but I was too young." he laughed. "I enjoyed the front of the house as well as the back of the house, but the front of the house appealed to me more, especially due to the interaction with the public and table-side service." 

While working at Picholine,  Chef Terrance Brennan expressed his desire to do a cheese service in the European style and asked Max to become the restaurants Maître Fromager. I asked where his cheese training came from. "I attended tastings around New York City," he replied, "joined the American Cheese Society and learned my craft in the Socratic style, grabbing everything I could find in print, these being the days before the Internet. When customers would ask me about specific cheese, I would learn everything I could about that cheese. It was hands on, no school. Later, I actually developed my own school at Artisanal. 

Max has always espoused the health benefits of cheese, many times over looked. With the trend that dairy and certain fats were bad for us now being somewhat reversed, coupled with new proposed FDA restrictions on cheese making in America with regard to raw milk cheeses (In an Aug. 29 letter to the American Cheese Society, the FDA announced that it would be changing its testing protocol for non-pathogenic bacteria in cheese and admitted that it had made some mistakes in its raw milk cheese testing procedures), I asked Max to expand on this a bit. "There are cheeses that have not met the legal requirements, that are in fact good for you, causing certain cheese-makers to remove these cheeses from their offerings," he stated.

Continuing, he expanded, "I want to believe that the FDA wants to work with the cheese-making industry. There will be changes without a doubt. If we are going to work with the FDA, at least to maintain the status quo (cheese made with raw milk must be aged at least 60 days at a cool temperature), we see now that dairy scientists, artisan cheese-makers, educators, retailers, and also those in the medical fields are all starting to look at cheese-making a bit differently now. I want to believe the debate is starting to make some headway. If the FDA does in fact move the aging from 60 to 90, even 120 days, this will put a lot of people out of business," he explained. "It would be cost prohibitive."

Max has always preached that certain bacteria in cheese are good for you and removing them from our diets may in fact do more harm to our immune systems that not. I asked him to talk about this in more detail. He stated, "Looking at the microbiome ( a microbiome is "the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space) that resides in our bodies, I can go for days about the positive health benefits of cheese. We don't teach cheese in medical school. Nutrition receives cursory treatment. This is in fact the next book I want to write. It's not a pretty topic, but cheese has maligned far too long." I asked him for an example of cheese that is 'good for you. "I strongly prefer the unpasteurized cheeses," he replied, "the proteins in pasteurized cheese, when they are denatured, don't bond as successfully; the amino acids don't bond to form protein chains well. Many of the milk-fats, minerals, vitamins and food proteins are reduced and made less bio available by pasteurization and much of the good bacteria being is removed along with the bad." 

"Different species also bring different positives," he expanded. "You get certain nutrients from sheep's milk in higher concentrations, from goat's milk in higher concentrations, from cow's milk in higher concentrations.Contrary to how it sounds, it's one of those ironies, but high fat cheeses can actually help you lose weight. Obesity became prevalent when we started adopting low fat foods. Fat is flavor and to replace the flavor, the food manufacturers substituted, sugars, salts and artificial ingredients that your body doesn't recognize. Take the Mediterranean Diet. What I always found funny is the focus on less meat, more grains, vegetables and fish, But, the true Mediterranean diet has cheese as an everyday part of it."

In keeping with the emerging technologies and the current growing love of cheese here by America's foodies, Max has a new cheese app coming out to help cheese lovers choose the right cheese when pairing. This app will pair not only wines with cheese but cheese with wines, so you'll be able to choose the wine you like and it will give you a list of cheese that would go with it. Conversely, Should you choose the cheese first, the app will give you a list of what wines may be paired with it.

I asked Max if he agreed with me that the 'state of cheese today' in America had changed, with folks being more willing to try new cheeses and if he thought that foodies in the US were becoming more knowledgeable about cheese and willing to make cheeses a part of their diet. He replied, "Absolutely! Cheese consumption in the US has tripled since 1970. We haven't caught up with many countries in cheese consumption per capital but we have recently passed British consumption and Spanish as well.

Back to what I said about the Mediterranean diet, we hear all about fish and grains, and olive oil, etc, but we never hear about the cheese in their diet. Cheese is a big part of the diet, take Italy, France, Greece, Cheese is a huge part of their diet. That's the great thing about Americans, they're increasingly curious about their food. Look at the craft cheese wave, the craft beer wave, even the craft cider wave. I think as far as pairings go, we have gotten a bit obsessive though, as if you make a mistake in a pairing it's some sort of egregious error. I think we over analyze now, instead of just enjoying a piece of cheese and some scotch, or whatever. That said, I don't know another country where people are willing to spend $50, $75 or more, to attend a cheese seminar. Pairing make that possible. Folks love a cheese pairing class though. Now people are even going on cheese themed journeys, or tours, much like wine and beer trail tours, I Joined the Cheese journeys company (cheesejourneys.com) as their Guest Educator for tours to France, england and other domestic tours planned for their 2015 calendar. Maître Fromagers are now becoming as normal as Sommelier.

Lastly, I asked Max to describe his perfect cheese plate for you all, so that when serving your guests, or bringing cheese as a guest, you'll be the hit of the party. Rather than give a specific type of cheese, Max gave me rules of thumb when selecting cheeses for your cheese courses. "First, offers Max, "is to make sure your cheese is at room temperature. Second make sure you offer a minimum of three cheeses and, of course, a variety; one cow's milk, one sheep's, milk and one goat's milk. Vary your textures as well as your intensities of flavor."

"Start with the milder cheese and work you way through to the more intense flavored of cheese. Blues are always popular, especially this time of year. I like raw milk cheeses, but should you have someone who is not comfortable with raw milk cheeses, be sure to include a pasteurized cheese. Don't buy too much," Max continues, "especially when buying good cheeses. Buy enough. Most don't realize a little cheese can go a long way. If you are serving cheeses as an appetizer course, follow the flavors based upon the wine you are serving. Choose a more mild cheese so it doesn't dominate the palette and interfere with what you are serving. I personally prefer having the cheese course at the end of the meal, in the European fashion, so if you are serving a sweet dessert wine, pick appropriate cheese that balances with it.

To learn more about where you can see Max in person, visit his website www.max-mccalman.com. You can also follow Max on Social media at the following links, twitter, facebook & Instagram.

Max is a highly visible advocate for artisanal cheese production, and is renowned as one of the cheese world's living legends for his expertise, insight and passion. He is a dedicated scholar of cheese, where he acts as consultant to the trade, judges at cheese competitions and is a frequent guest lecturer.

I hope you have learned something today and I encourage you to expand your palette and try new cheeses. Experiment, enjoy and be sure to let me know how your next cheese board offering goes. I always love learning new things and hearing about your next great culinary adventure.

As always, Bon Appetit!

Lou

"Holiday Seasoned Nuts, Brittles & Barks"

It’s that time of year, when we spread love through food with family and friends. The season is filled with joy and laughter, and the gift of giving is among us all. It’s sometimes hard to decide what this years’ festive treat will be. But if you like homemade goodies, and can follow some simple guidelines, I am sure you will come out of this feeling and looking like a pro, and have all your loved ones impressed by your efforts!

Brittles
Brittles are such an easy and decorative gift that gleams with craftsmanship and love. Peanut and almond brittle are probably the most commonly prepared brittles during the holidays. But these nutty, sweet, candies are much more versatile than the layperson would know. I’ve baked recipes including spiced pumpkin seed brittle cookies, toffee peanut brittle brownies, and folded chocolate almond brittle into ice cream. Put your favorite brittle in the food processor until it is the texture of sugar, sprinkle on your favorite brulee, and use the kitchen blowtorch to form the crunchy caramelized top we all love! Don’t stop there though, get creative and encourage your friends and family to explore the many ways to enjoy this tasty holiday treat!

Add baking soda or butter to make a more delicate brittle The trick, though, is to make a candy that's truly brittle so that it breaks when you bite it, rather than a hard candy that must be sucked like a lollipop or toffee. By adding baking soda to the sugar syrup, you unleash a zillion minuscule air bubbles that give the candy a porous, delicate texture. Butter also helps to make the candy tender and easier to chew, as well as adding its own rich flavor.

Peppermint Bark
The recipe for peppermint bark uses few ingredients, with only chocolate and mint candies required. Some recipes also add peppermint flavoring. The candies used may be candy canes, or mint candies. The candies should be broken up, and the chocolate is melted. These two ingredients are combined on a baking sheet and then chilled until firm. The bark is then removed from the sheet and broken into pieces in a similar way to peanut brittle.

Seasoned Nuts
Although nuts take center stage in preparations such as brittle, they are far more complex and versatile. Seasoned nuts are a great evening starter, and a fun gift to give. Mixing different varieties or singling out a favorite, is half the fun! Some of my favorites include pistachios, pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, cashews, peanuts, macadamia, hazelnuts, almonds, and adding a variety of seeds like pumpkin, flax or sunflower seeds. Once that decision is made, decide if the mixture is going to be served warm or at room temperature. Typically the nuts are roasted first, then mixed with butter or egg whites to bind, and tossed in a flavorful mixtures of spices. Sweet and Spicy nuts are among Americans’ favorite, using brown sugar or maple syrup and bourbon with cayenne pepper and paprika.

Other favorite flavorings and spices of mine include fresh or dried thyme, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, nutmeg, allspice, soy sauce, and sea salt. To really wow your friends, prepare each nut in a different way, and then mix them together. Try smoking almonds, and candying pecans. Then cayenne roast walnuts and coconut toast some macadamia nuts. Mix all those nuts together and the flavors will really explode on the palette. Try mixing nuts and fruits together like dried cranberries, pineapples, raisins or figs. Get creative with seasonings, and don’t knock it till you try it! Food can be a lot of fun, and your imagination and willingness to try new flavor combinations, will open up so many doors in the world of cooking.

I wish you all a Holiday season full of love and success.

All the Best

Lou

A Simple Guide to Understanding Champagne

It's time for me cover my all time favorite result of the fermentation of grapes, champagne. I absolutely adore it in all its forms and will never, ever, turn down a glass of 'the bubbly'. While Champagne is quite popular throughout most of the year, I was not surprised to learn that a full quarter (25%) of all the champagne & sparkling wine sold in a given year, is done so during the final week of the year between Christmas and New Year's. I'm going to cover the ABC's of this wonderful sparkling beverage and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Let's start out by examining what makes champagne, well...champagne!

Champagne is produced exclusively in the Champagne region of France, the area from which it takes its name, and only wines made from this region are allowed and can properly be called champagne. While the term 'champagne' is used by some makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, most countries limit the use of the term to only those wines that come from the champagne appellation. In Europe, this is strictly adhered to due to its Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Other countries, such as the United States, have some leeway with regard to the use of the term 'champagne' by use of a legal structure that allows those producers who have been making sparkling wine for a long period of time to continue to use the term 'champagne' under specific circumstances.

How It's Made
Champagne is a blend of, for the most part, three grape varieties; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. When making the base wine, grapes are pressed in a very careful method so as not to allow the color or bitter qualities from the skin to flow into the juice. This is especially true of the black grape types. This juice is then set aside and starts the first fermentation and aging process. Each batch of juice is set aside separately and blending is not done until after fermentation. Once this process is done, the juices are blended to make the base wine which is known as cuvée. In some cases, aged samples, as well as those from many different vineyards, are used. In very rare situations, it is possible that close to 100 different samples have been used to make this base wine.

Contrary to legend and popular belief, Dom Pérignon did not invent sparkling wine. Around 1700, sparkling champagne, as we know it today, was born in France. However, the English scientist and physician Christopher Merrett documented the addition of sugar to a finished wine to create a second fermentation six years before Dom Pérignon arrived in the Abbey of
Hautvillers and almost 40 years before it was claimed that the famed Benedictine monk 'invented' champagne. This is the process that gives champagne and sparkling wine its 'bubbles'.

Merrett

Méthode Champenoise is the traditional Dom Pérignon method by which champagne is produced. After primary and bottling, a second alcoholic fermentation occurs in the bottle. This second fermentation is induced by adding several grams of yeast and several grams of rock sugar. According to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, a minimum of 1.5 years is required to completely develop all the flavor. In years where there is an exceptional harvest, a millesimé is declared. This means that the champagne will be very good and has to mature for at least 3 years. During this time the champagne bottle is sealed with a crown cap similar to that used on beer bottles.

As the yeast consumes the sugars, alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced. Since it is trapped in the bottle, it waits for you and I to 'pop' the cork and release it for all of us to enjoy, and yes, even to sometimes wear. A sediment is then formed that settles to the bottom of the bottle called lees. In the traditional labor intensive method of fermentation and aging, bottles are turned and rotated either manually or mechanically in a process called remuage for a period of up to three months to allow all the lees to settle into the necks of the bottles. After chilling the bottles, the neck is frozen, and the cap removed. The pressure in the bottle forces out the ice containing the lees, and the bottle is quickly corked to maintain the carbon dioxide in the wine. Some syrup is sometimes added to maintain the level within the bottle.

I should note here that when buying 'cheaper', less expensive champagnes, the reason they are less expensive is that they do not go through méthode champenoise, the long and traditional process described above. They get their carbonation in the same way soda does, through compressed carbon dioxide gas blasted into the wine. This is the reason that truly well made champagnes are so delicate. The méthode champenoise creates very small bubbles that last quite a long time, while the compressed air carbonation method creates very large bubbles that have a short life and can actually be quite aggressive.

History of Champagne
Although the French monk Dom Perignon did not invent champagne, it is true he developed many advances in the production of this beverage, including holding the cork in place with a wire collar to withstand the fermentation pressure. In France, the first sparkling champagne was created accidentally; its pressure led it to be called 'the devil's wine' (le vin du diable) as bottles exploded or the cork jolted away. Even when it was deliberately produced as a sparkling wine, champagne was for a very long time, made by the méthode rurale, where the wine was bottled before the only fermentation had finished. Champagne did not utilize the so-called méthode champenoise, the second fermentation of adding of the yeast and sugar, until the 19th century, 300 years after Christopher Merrett documented the process.

Although the first wine-producing vineyards in Champagne appeared between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, the events of the 17th century brought the beginning of champagne as we know it today. The vine-growers of Champagne had learned how to stabilize their wines and keep them fresh for several years. As a result of their hard work and the preciseness, the Champenois also obtained a white wine by combining both black and white grapes using grapes that had been grown in the Champagne region. By the last decades of that century, they mastered the mysteries of effervescence, which was their stroke of genius.

As with most great culinary discoveries, which seem to come from either Italy or France, champagne first gained world renown because of its association with the anointment of French kings. Royalty from throughout Europe spread the message of the unique sparkling wine from Champagne and its association with luxury and power. The leading manufacturers went well out of their way to make sure that they and the champagne they produced was associated with nobility and royalty. Through advertising and packaging, they sought to associate champagne with high luxury, festivities and rites of passage.

In 1866 the famous entertainer and star of his day, George Leybourne, began a career of making celebrity endorsements for champagne. The champagne maker Moët commissioned him to write and perform songs extolling the virtues of champagne, especially as a reflection of taste, affluence, and the good life. He agreed to drink nothing but champagne in public.

Types of Champagne

Vintage And Non-Vintage
Most of the champagne produced today is 'non-vintage,' meaning that is a blended product of grapes from multiple vintages. Most of the base will be from a single year vintage with producers blending anywhere from 10-15% (even as high as 40%) of wine from older vintages. A designated 'vintage' is usually up to the wine maker and specifically tied to conditions that are very favorable. 'Vintage' wine must be composed of at least 85% of the grapes from the vintage year. Under champagne wine regulations, houses that make both vintage and non-vintage wines are allowed to use no more than 80% of the total vintage's harvest for the production of vintage champagne. This allows at least 20% of the harvest from favorable vintages to be reserved for use in non-vintage champagne. In less than ideal vintages, some producers will produce a wine from only that single vintage and still label it as non-vintage rather than as 'vintage' since the wine will be of lesser quality and the producers have little desire to reserve the wine for future blending.

Blanc de blancs
Blanc de Blancs means 'white of whites' and is used to designate champagnes made only from Chardonnay grapes. The term is occasionally used in other sparkling wine-producing regions, usually to denote Chardonnay-only wines rather than any sparkling wine made from other white grape varieties.

Blanc de Noirs
Blanc de Noirs are white champagnes made only from the black grape varieties of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Typically, these sparkling wines are full-bodied and deeper yellow-gold in color. They are ideal for full-flavored foods, including meats and cheeses.

Pink or Rosé
Pink or Rosé champagnes are produced by one of two methods. The traditional method involves the addition of a small amount of Pinot Noir still wine to the base wine or cuvée prior to the second fermentation. The maceration method, or skin contact method, involves the pressing of the grape skins, allowing them to soak with the juice of the grapes prior to fermentation.

Prestige cuvée
A prestige cuvée, or cuvée de prestige, is a proprietary blended wine (usually a champagne) that is considered to be the elite of a producer's range. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill.

The original prestige cuvée was Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, launched in 1936 with the 1921 vintage. Until then, champagne houses produced different cuvées of varying quality, but a top-of-the-line wine produced to the highest standards (and priced accordingly) was a new idea. In fact, Louis Roederer had been producing Cristal since 1876, but this was strictly for the private consumption of the Russian tsar.

Cristal was made publicly available with the 1945 vintage. Then came Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne (first vintage 1952), and Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle 'La Cuvée' in 1960, a blend of three vintages (1952, 1953, and 1955). In the last three decades of the twentieth century, most champagne houses followed these with their own prestige cuvées, often named after notable people with a link to that producer (Veuve Clicquot's La Grande Dame, thenickname of the widow of the house's founder's son; Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, named for the British prime minister; and Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Alexandra Rosé, to name just three examples, and presented in non-standard bottle shapes (following Dom Pérignon's lead with its eighteenth-century revival design).

Champagnes also come in a variety of sweet to the extra dry. Here is a brief chart that will help you in picking the type that best suits your tastes:

Doux: Sweet
Demi-sec: Half-dry
Sec: Dry
Extra sec: Extra dry
Brut: Nearly completely dry
Extra Brut / Brut zero: No added sugar at all

Sparkling Shiraz
This is a relatively new sparkling wine experience from the Shiraz producers of Australia, and I felt it deserved a mention here. As a fan of Shiraz, I was intrigued and found the wine to have all the characteristics of the traditional Shiraz that I admire, blackcurrants, blackberries, chocolate, cherries, strawberries, hints of tobacco with a rich smoky oak flavor and that trademark peppery finish. Sparkling Shiraz wines should be served slightly chilled. If it's summer, place in the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes. However, if it's mid winter, then room temperature will do fine. The bottom line is you want it slightly cooler than you would serve traditional Shiraz, yet not quite as cold as a Chardonnay.

Opening a Champagne Bottle
The trick to opening a bottle of champagne while maintaining its integrity is to avoid 'popping' the cork. Also note that the better the champagne, the less 'pop' you will experience. Begin by scoring the foil around the base of the wire cage. Then, carefully untwist and loosen the bottom of the cage, but do not remove it. In one hand, enclose the cage and cork while holding the base of the champagne bottle with your other hand. Twist both ends in the opposite direction. As soon as you feel pressure forcing the cork out, try to push it back in while continuing to twist gently until the cork is released with a sigh.

The Drinking
This, of course, is my favorite part. Champagne should always be served chilled (43 to 48 F) and served in a champagne flute, a long stemmed glass with a tall, narrow bowl, thin sides and an etched bottom. You should hold the flute by the stem or base as opposed to the bowl and since 'clinking' seems to be the norm when consuming champagne, don't overdue it and be careful. I am a perfect example of what not to do when holding a delicate champagne flute, as one New Year's Eve, while trying to make a point rather over-zealously, I found myself holding a base and stem while my bowl sailed across the room, getting the attention of a rather large guy who was none to pleased as it hit his forehead, but that, my friends, is a story for another day. I have included below a simple guide as to which particular champagne goes with certain types of food so the next time you are hosting, you can wow all your friends with your acute knowledge of 'the bubbly.'

Blanc de Blanc Champagne: Oysters, crustaceans and gently flavored white fish.
Blanc de Noirs: Lighter meat dishes (pigeon breast, partridge, veal, pork). If it's an aged wine, it can stand up to a bit richer protein such as kidneys or venison.
Non-Vintage Champagnes: Especially young and fruity versions are recommended with cheeses such as Beaufort, Gruyère, Emmental. Older non-vintage champagnes can cope with dishes with darker, nuttier flavors. (Caviar for instance)
Vintage Champagnes: Great with black truffle,scented foods, cheeses such as Parmesan and lightly smoked foods. Younger vintage champagnes can provide a foil for a wide variety of dishes, from fish with rich sauces to poultry (especially duck), light meats (veal and pork) and many cheeses (Chaource and Lancashire). Japanese dishes are also suggested.
Non-Vintage Rosé: Prawns, lobster and other seafood work here.
Vintage Rosé: Aged vintage rosé champagnes have a rich, savoury character that can pair well with meat dishes, and have the power to stand up to high levels of herbs and spices, specifically basil, mint and coriander.
Demi Sec Champagnes: These go superbly with savory dishes, foie gras is an obvious example. If there is an edge of sweetness to the food (caramelizing, a fruit ingredient or sugar,) then this style can provide a better match than a dry selection. These also pair well with most desserts as long as they are not overly sweet.

The only hazard in drinking champagne tends to be that it is so delicate in body and flavor, it is very easy to find yourself a bit buzzed rather quickly. As always, do enjoy it, but don't overdo it. As we all know, anything in excess tends to not be a good thing. I hope that you have learned a bit more about champagne than you already knew, but the learning here is not in the reading, my fellow Champagne-ites, it's in the drinking, so go out and eat, drink and enjoy!



Bon Appetit!

Lou